Discord Opener
Previous storyline: Ceruleana Discord by CupcakeTrap Victory for Demacia Demacia, victorious on the Fields of Justice, won dominion over the mystic island of Ceruleana, an ethereal gateway between the Shadow Isles and the Freljord that seethed with strange arcane power. Jarvan III decreed that the island be exorcised of its dark magics and its raw power sanctified in the name of Order. Faction Responses The Freljord welcomed the transfer of power over the island to their allies the noble Demacians. Border tensions between Sejuani’s tribes and Demacia settled down: with Ceruleana’s power behind Demacia, it was clear that no attack could succeed. Ionia registered a vigorous protest with the Council, warning (with barely concealed contempt for the caliber of Demacia’s mages) that Demacia would push Runeterra’s arcane equilibrium out of balance and jeopardize all nations. Noxus began taking its border reconnaissance patrols closer and closer to Demacian borders (in fact, further and further inside of Demacia’s borders under a pretense of stealth), gearing up to deal a mighty blow before Demacia could accumulate the power stored within Ceruleana’s icy foundations. Piltover asked for permission to conduct some tests on Ceruleana. Demacia curtly denied the request, scoffing that the proddings and samplings of Piltover’s gadgeteers and tinkerers would enrage whatever spirits or forces gave Ceruleana its power. The Shadow Isles were silent. Ceruleana Sanctified Demacia’s clerics and planar sorcerers approached the island with great caution and respect. Their prayers were soon answered when a goddess appeared before them. Her weathered face was half-hidden by the hood of her stormcloud gray robe, and the coarse fabric glinted here and there with threads of the unmistakeable shining-singing brilliance of mirrorwater. She took the name Ceruleana as a mortal convenience and heard their entreaties. A great temple to Order was built, with statues and sacrifices honoring Ceruleana. As she drank in the worship and adoration, her aspect turned more refined and orderly, less and less a wild sea goddess. With her patronage, Demacia’s armies and fleets stood ready to conquer any nation in the land or resist any attack. But the Ionian sages were right to warn Demacia against distorting such ancient powers to suit their absolutist principles. Demacia had imposed Order, and all the suppressed chaos and mayhem was bound to burst out sooner or later, somewhere. Discord The seas calmed, but soon earthquakes brought chaos to land instead. Massive tremors shook Valoran. The sands of Icathia split to expose a gulf of wild chaos magic. Hordes of voidlings (and beasts stranger still) poured out. Tortured ghosts distorted by the magics of the Void appeared and followed the Void’s hordes south over the Voodoo Lands and across the Sablestone Mountains to Bandle City. Yordle scouts hastened back to report on their ghastly advance. Since ancient times, Aatrox had arrived to turn the tides of a battle, transforming what would have been swift victory for one side into prolonged carnage. For rescuing their armies from the brink of defeat, he had been lauded by many nations over the course of history. But now he joined this upswell of terror and death and fought alongside the forces of Discord. The Void attacked Bandle City with Malzahar at its fore, splattering the streets with blood and fur and unbaked cupcake batter. Bandle City’s finest soldiers fought back, reinforced by battle-hungry Demacian troops borne swiftly by sea to meet the Void threat. All across Valoran, the forces of nature broke loose and madness spread like a plague. It began with insane dreams of alien worlds and the deconstruction of reality that turned ordinary men and women into psychotic murderers. Next, the very balance of life and death shifted. The dead, reanimated by the powers of the Void, tore out from their graves and clawed the living from their homes to be devoured. Every army in Valoran deployed with haste to meet the threat. Nations recalled their Champions from the League to lead and inspire their common soldiery against this monstrous attack. The Champions of the Shadow Isles met them in battle and unleashed their power against the mortal armies of the world. The League of Legends For a full week chaos claimed lives and razed cities. The soldiers of Valoran bravely fought the abominations of the Void and the restless dead to a standstill. The Void’s raving emissaries came to the Council, demanding a contest for dominion of the lands of Valoran. The Council recoiled, its representatives stammering that the Void had no standing to appear before the Council and issue such a challenge. The next day, the Void flooded a southwestern province of Piltover, dragging thousands to terrible fates and warping a great university into ruins. The Council acceded. Perverse though it seemed, they would meet the forces of the Void on the Fields of Justice, if only for a brief respite from the massacre. Three factions — Bandle City, Demacia, and Piltover — would compete, each striving to prove itself the strongest and the worthiest to face the Void and its allies. Next Update: Vengeance